Family in Chinese Culture
As shown in Amy Tan's short stories A Pair of Tickets, Immortal Heart, and Two Kinds, one can see the importance of family in Chinese culture. In the piece A Pair of Tickets, it is shown how hard Jing-mei's mother Suyuan looks for the twin babies she is forced to leave behind. Her effort is shown when Jing-mei's father recalls the travels, saying, "We went to many different cities, back to Kweilin, to Changsha, as far south as Kunming. She was always looking out of one corner of her eye for twin babies, then little girls" (Tan, A Pair of . . ." 163, 164). This passage tells of the unsuccessful journey that Suyuan and her new husband go on a search for the babies. It demonstrates how attached a family is in Chinese
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Yet I have a memory of her telling me with her hands. I can see her telling me with her eyes. When it is dark, she says this to me in a clear voice I have never heard. She speaks in the language of the stars" (Tan, "Immortal Heart" 152). Though Precious Auntie is dead, Lu Ling feels that she is still with her, and wishes that she had appreciated Precious Auntie more. with Precious. In addition quote shows Lu Ling's connection to her dead father who is named Baby Uncle. He says that Precious Auntie speaks the language of the stars, which creates a connection between father and daughter. The final story, Two Kinds is generally focused on a mother and her daughter. The mother who is named Daisy wants the best for her daughter who is named Jing-mei. Enforcing this and trying to teach that hard work can pay off, Daisy says, "You can be best at anything" (Tan, "Two Kinds" 413). Daisy hopes that young Jing-mei will try to be her best at anything. The mother's encouragement shows how greatly important it is for her daughter to succeed. In any of her works, Amy Tan includes various Chinese cultural values. One value that is existent in every on of her pieces is family, for it is a very important aspect of Chinese culture that